Meet Joe Black

{{About|the 1998 American romantic fantasy mystery film|the Nas song|Magic (Nas album)}}

{{Infobox film

|name = Meet Joe Black

|image = Meet_Joe_Black-_1998.jpg

|caption = Theatrical release poster

|based_on = Death Takes a Holiday
by Maxwell Anderson
Gladys Lehman
Death Takes a Holiday
by Walter Ferris
La morte in vacanza
by Alberto Casella

|producer = Martin Brest

|screenplay = {{Plainlist|

Bo Goldman
Kevin Wade
Ron Osborn
Jeff Reno

}}

|starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

|music = Thomas Newman

|cinematography = Emmanuel Lubezki

|editing = {{Plainlist|

}}

|studio = City Light Films

|distributor = Universal Pictures

|released = {{Film date|1998|11|8|Tokyo International Film Festival|1998|11|13|United States}}

|runtime = 181 minutes

|country = United States

|language = English

|budget = $90 million

|gross = $142.9 million

}}

Meet Joe Black is a 1998 American romantic fantasy drama film directed and produced by Martin Brest, starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Claire Forlani. Celebrating his 65th birthday, businessman and devoted family man Bill Parrish is visited by Death, who wants to know what it is like to be human in return for giving Bill extra days of his life. The screenplay was written by Bo Goldman, Kevin Wade, Ron Osborn, and Jeff Reno, and is loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday, which is itself based on the 1929 play Death Takes a Holiday by Walter Ferris, which is in turn an English-language adaptation of the 1924 Italian play La morte in vacanza by Alberto Casella.

Plot

Media mogul Bill Parrish is contemplating a merger with another media giant. Meanwhile, his eldest daughter, Allison, is planning an elaborate 65th birthday party for him. His younger daughter Susan, a resident in internal medicine, has a relationship with Drew, a member of Bill's board. As Bill contemplates Susan's planned marriage to Drew and realizes that she is not deeply in love, he suggests that she wait to be swept off her feet.

After Bill's company helicopter lands at his office, he hears a voice that he tries to ignore. Arriving in his office, Bill has pains in his chest and hears the voice again, saying "yes".

While studying in a coffee shop near her hospital, Susan meets a young man and forms a connection. She departs without getting his name. Unbeknownst to her, directly afterward, he is struck fatally by multiple cars.

That evening, Bill hears the voice again that summons him to a room. Materializing, the voice identifies itself as "Death" and now inhabits the body of the young man Susan met at the coffee shop. Death explains that Bill's impassioned speech to his daughter piqued his interest. Given Bill's "competence, experience, and wisdom", Death says that for as long as Bill is his guide on Earth, Bill will not have to die. They both return to the dinner table and under pressure to make an introduction, Bill names the young man "Joe Black". Joe does not seem to know how to drink, eat, or use food and utensils.

Drew secretly conspires to sell Parrish Communications, despite Bill's strong objections. Capitalizing on Bill's strange behavior and reliance on Joe, he convinces the board of directors to vote Bill out as chairman and to approve the merger.

Intrigued by Joe's naivete, Susan realizes he is different from the young man she met in the coffee shop. She falls in love with him and he with her. Later, Bill sees them kissing.

Bill angrily confronts Joe about his relationship with Susan. He then suggests to Susan that Joe will not be around much longer. At Susan's hospital, Joe interacts with a terminally ill woman, who wishes to die to escape her constant physical pain. She realizes that Joe is part of her impending death. When Joe mentions that he loves Susan (whose care she is under), they discuss the meaning of life and she tells him the danger of meshing two worlds. When Joe asks if she is ready to go, she nods her head and dies.

As Bill's birthday arrives, Joe declares his intention to take Susan with him. Bill pleads with Joe to recognize the meaning of true love and to not steal Susan's life.

At the party, knowing his death is imminent, Bill says goodbye to his daughters. Susan tells Joe she has loved him since the day in the coffee shop. Joe decides to allow her to live.

Quince apologizes to Bill for unwittingly undermining Bill's position, and Bill forgives him. Joe helps Bill regain control of his company, exposing Drew's underhanded business dealings to the board by claiming to be an agent of the Internal Revenue Service and threatening to put Drew in jail.

Susan and Bill later say goodbye. Fireworks begin, and on a hilltop above the party, Joe waits with tears in his eyes. Bill heads up to him, and they share their thoughts. Susan watches Joe and Bill cross a nearby bridge and descend out of sight on the other side. Joe reappears alone. He is again the young man from the coffee shop, uninjured and not comprehending where he is. Susan descends hand-in-hand with the young man toward the party with the fireworks bursting all around them.

Cast

= Leading actor =

Brad Pitt as Death / "Joe Black" / Young Man in Coffee Shop
Anthony Hopkins as Bill Parrish
Claire Forlani as Susan Parrish

= Supporting actor =

Jake Weber as Drew
Marcia Gay Harden as Allison Parrish
Jeffrey Tambor as Quince, Allison's husband
David S. Howard as Eddie Sloane
Lois Kelly Miller as Jamaican Woman
Marylouise Burke as Lillian
June Squibb as Helen

Production

=Filming =

Most of William Parrish's country mansion scenes were shot at the Aldrich Mansion in Rhode Island.

The penthouse interiors and Parrish Communications offices were sets built at the 14th Regiment Armory in the South Slope neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/06/nyregion/film-crews-are-generating-the-magic-and-the-backlash.html|title=Film Crews Are Generating The Magic and the Backlash|work=The New York Times|date=6 July 1997}}

The coffee shop where Susan meets the young man is Broadway Restaurant, at 2664 Broadway and West 101st Street in New York's Manhattan. Principal photography commenced on 11 June 1997 and concluded on 12 November 1997.{{cite web|url=http://movie-locations.com/movies/m/meetjoeblack.html#.WQ7nLtTyvIU|title=Meet Joe Black Filming Locations|publisher=Movie Locations|access-date=7 May 2017}} The restaurant closed permanently in June 2023.{{cite web |title=Upper West Side Diner Closes After 43 Years In The Neighborhood |url=https://patch.com/new-york/upper-west-side-nyc/upper-west-side-diner-closes-after-43-years-neighborhood |website=Patch}}

=Versions =

A two-hour version was made to show on television and airline flights, by cutting most of the plotline involving Bill Parrish's business. Since director Martin Brest derided this edit of his film and disowned it, the director's credit on this release used the Hollywood pseudonym Alan Smithee.{{cite web|date=15 January 2000|author=Amy Wallace|title=Name of Director Smithee Isn't What It Used to Be|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jan-15-ca-54271-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|quote=Smithee’s work, as was the airline version of Martin Brest’s “Meet Joe Black.”|url-status=live|url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407140333/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jan-15-ca-54271-story.html|archive-date=7 April 2019}}

Release

The film premiered as the closing night film of the Tokyo International Film Festival on 8 November 1998.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=1 November 1998|title='Armageddon' opens 11th Tokyo film fest|last=Herskovitz|first=Jon|url=https://variety.com/1998/film/news/armageddon-opens-11th-tokyo-film-fest-1117488014/|access-date=October 2, 2023}}

Reception

=Box office=

Meet Joe Black opened in the United States and Canada on the weekend of 13–15 November 1998, and had a weekend gross of $15,017,995 ranking #3, behind The Waterboy{{'}}s second weekend and the opening of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=1998&wknd=46&p=.htm|title=Weekend Box Office Results for 13-15 November 1998|publisher=Box Office Mojo|date=3 February 2011|access-date=3 March 2011}}

While the film had a disappointing box office gross in the United States and Canada of $44,619,100, it fared much better internationally. Taking in an additional $98,321,000, the movie grossed a worldwide total of $142,940,100.{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=meetjoeblack.htm|title=Meet Joe Black (1998)|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=3 March 2011}}

As Meet Joe Black was one of the few films showing the first trailer for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, it was reported that Star Wars fans bought tickets just to see the trailer and then left right after it finished playing.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/new/What-Happened-Phantom-Menace-Trailer-Was-Shown-Theaters-68400.html|title=What Happened When The Phantom Menace's Trailer Was Shown In Theaters|date=November 25, 2014|website=CinemaBlend}}

=Critical response=

Meet Joe Black received mixed reviews from critics, with most complimenting the performances but criticizing the film's three-hour length, the slow pacing, and the screenplay.{{cite web|first=James|last=Berardinelli|author-link=James Berardinelli|year=1998|title=Meet Joe Black (United States, 1998)|website=reelviews.net|type=movie review|url=http://preview.reelviews.net/movies/m/meet_joe.html|access-date=7 May 2017}} Roger Ebert gave it three stars, but disliked the peripheral storylines and overly drawn-out ending. He concluded that despite its flaws, "there's so much that's fine in this movie".{{cite web|first=Roger|last=Ebert|author-link=Roger Ebert|date=13 November 1998|title=Meet Joe Black|website=Rogerebert.com|type=Movie Review|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/meet-joe-black-1998|access-date=27 February 2020}} Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that most of the characters were one-dimensional.{{cite magazine|first=Peter|last=Travers|author-link=Peter Travers|date=11 March 1998|title=Meet Joe Black|magazine=Rolling Stone|type=Movie Review|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/meet-joe-black-19981113|access-date=7 May 2017}} Hopkins received uniform praise for his performance, with Travers opining that Hopkins' Bill Parrish was the only fully realized character in the film; Mick LaSalle wrote that "Hopkins' acting is so emotionally full that the tiniest moments...ring with complexities of thought and feeling."{{cite news|first=Mick|last=LaSalle|author-link=Mick LaSalle|date=13 November 1998|title=Colorless 'Joe Black' / Brad Pitt's "Death" is lethally dull, but Hopkins breathes life into overly long romance|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|type=Movie Review|url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Colorless-Joe-Black-Pitt-s-Death-is-lethally-2978427.php|access-date=8 May 2017}} Pitt, on the other hand, received a mixed response, with LaSalle calling his performance so bad "it hurts" and James Berardinelli calling it "execrable". Thomas Newman's score received critical acclaim; it is generally considered one of his best works.{{cite web|url=http://www.maintitles.net/reviews/meet-joe-black/|title=Meet Joe Black - Thomas Newman|author=Thomas Glorieux|quote=William Parrish: I do think this is the lightning you're looking for|website=Main Titles: Film|access-date=6 January 2024}}{{cite web|url=http://www.movie-wave.net/titles/meet_joe_black.html|title=Newman: Meet Joe Black|website=Movie Wave|access-date=6 January 2024}}

Meet Joe Black earned a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Remake or Sequel,{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000558/1999/1/|title=1999 Razzie Awards - nominations for worst remake|website=IMDb |access-date=6 January 2024}} being a takeoff of the film Death Takes a Holiday.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 46% approval rating on 52 reviews, with an average score of 5.60/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Meet Joe Black is pretty to look at and benefits from an agreeable cast, but that isn't enough to offset this dawdling drama's punishing three-hour runtime."{{cite web|title=Meet Joe Black|website=Rotten Tomatoes|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/meet_joe_black/|access-date=14 June 2024}} On Metacritic, the film received a 43% score on 24 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".{{cite web|title=Meet Joe Black|website=Metacritic|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/meet-joe-black}} Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore graded the film "A−" on a scale of A to F.{{cite web|title=Movie title search: BLACK|series=Find Cinemascore|website=CinemaScore|url=https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/YmxhY2s=|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824154544/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/YmxhY2s=|archive-date=24 August 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.mfiles.co.uk/reviews/thomas-newman-meet-joe-black.htm|title=Meet Joe Black - soundtrack by Thomas Newman|author=|date=|website=MFiles|access-date=6 January 2024}}

In retrospect, Brad Pitt views Meet Joe Black as a low point in his career, feeling he lacked direction at the time. He admitted to underperforming, saying, "I dogged it. I muffed it." He believes someone else could have done a better job and regrets taking the role, stating it was "the pinnacle of my…loss of direction and compass." While he praises Anthony Hopkins for his performance, he recognizes that he did not fully connect with the material.{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/movies/2011/09/16/brad-pitt-ew-interview/|title=Brad Pitt - the EW Interview|author=Jeff Giles|date=16 September 2011|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=6 January 2024}}